6 Terrible Things Said About The Maryville Rape Case on Live Television

By
John Switcher

Oct 18, 2013

Advertisement - Continue Reading Below

Fox

Public outcry continues to mount over the rape case hanging over Maryville, Missouri, following last week's detailed report in the Kansas City Star. In January 2012, high school football players allegedly raped two teenage girls — 14-year-old Daisy Coleman, whose name has been released with her family's permission, and an unidentified 13-year-old. Coleman's rape was filmed, and she was afterwards left unconscious on her front lawn.

Coleman's alleged rapist is the grandson of a Republican representative in the state government. Though Maryville police originally determined a crime had taken place, the case was later dropped thanks to "insufficient evidence." When the Coleman family protested, they were told "to get over it." Having requested a special prosecutor take on the case, they have also been forced to move to a new town after receiving abuse from the greater Maryville community.

Fox News decided that a worthwhile opinion on the case's status could be gleaned from criminal defense attorney Joseph DiBenedetto. However, the network's producers presumably didn't actually bother to clarify DiBenedetto's thoughts on the case with him beforehand. If they had done so, they'd have realized his victim-shaming perspective is highly offensive. And then they coulda woulda shoulda cut him from the show.

—"There are tell-tale signs that this girl is lying [because] she is leaving her home at 1 a.m. in the morning."

—"What did she expect to happen at 1 a.m. in the morning, after sneaking out?"

—"Nobody forced her to drink."

—"What happens? She gets caught by her mom, she's embarrassed and the easy way out here is to say 'Mom, someone took advantage of me.'"

—"Assuming these facts are correct and this did happen, I'm not saying she deserved to be raped but, knowing the facts as we do here, this case is going nowhere."

If your head has not exploded from the heinous, rage-inducing gist of his arguments, DiBenedetto also questions the victim's invoking of the Fifth Amendment, as "that tells you a lot." Shepard Smith, given the unenviable job of (calmly) hosting the segment, does offer some stern criticism of DiBenedetto's points. Says Shep, "what you've done is taken a victim of rape into a liar and a crime committer. That's a far jump."

And because he's just that terrible, DiBenedetto replies only: "that's one way to look at it. Assuming that's the case, she wouldn't be the first and she won't be the last."